Adventures in reading aloud

[avevale_intelligencer]

Having finished reading all the Mershane books to the Countess, I've embarked on the Lord Francis Powerscourt series by David Dickinson (apparently not the strange man on telly who frequents auctions, but another of the same name). These are excellent historical whodunnits set around the turn of the century, the detective being an Anglo-Irish peer. They're easy to read aloud, and there's enough fun in them to keep both of us interested and leaven the drama.

I've also read her "Bay Of The Dead," one of the new Torchwood novels which she picked more or less at random (the titles being too small for her to read) at Waterstone's. Very Torchwood, if you know what I mean; I think she enjoyed it. And while I don't have as many options for Welsh voices as I do for Irish, I find I can do the lead roles fairly well and not have Ianto coming out sounding like Gwen, which is good. I still wish I was better at women and children though.

Anyway, I've been thinking about adapting either Jan's stuff or mine for audio. I don't have decent mikes or any of the paraphernalia for recording things properly, but I can't help wondering about the practicalities of doing dramatic readings along the same lines as filk albums (part of this may have been prompted by the success of BtD as a performance). Effects and theme/background music would be needed, of course, and the usual logistical kerfuffles of getting actors together (although in audio drama performances can be done later, or even in other places, and slotted in in a way that's less practical with a music album) but from my viewpoint it doesn't seem that much harder than recording a CD full of music, and we have people who do that very well indeed.

Of course, this is in the full knowledge that Cosmic Trifle's album is still in limbo waiting for someone with the ability to redo my atrocities, and that my mobility is limited by the state of me, but the idea of adapting, say, "The Sallow Man" or "Two Magicians" or "Blood On Bookwalk" to work as an audio play seems like an interesting challenge in itself. Copyright certainly wouldn't be a problem.

So here's what I'm thinking: are there people in filkdom who would fancy being voice actors? Would any of the people who have recording equipment be interested in venturing into this area (Little Polish Productions, anyone?)? And, if it actually got done, who would buy the thing?

Comments

[keristor.livejournal.com]

Some initial thoughts. (Summary: I think it's a good idea and sounds interesting and possible and not expensive.)

I'm not in the target demographic for buying audiobooks myself (about the only time I listen to recordings these days is when driving, and I find that speech is either distracting or I ignore it, either of which is not useful). However, recording and editing speech is a lot more forgiving than music because almost anything can easily be stopped, restarted and redone at least on a sentence level (for instance if a car or aircraft makes a noise or the performer coughs) and then spliced in. Similarly there is no need to have all (or any) of the voice actors together, all that's needed is an initial rough guide to listen to and then they can each record their own parts. Things like levels and timing can be easily adjusted in editing.

Adding background music and effects is the only thing I can see which might need special equipment and getting people together if they need to be recorded for the performance, the rest can be done at home (and by you, if you want to, you've shown that you have more than that level of competance and any computer capable of running Myst and the like is adequate technically).

I would suggest trying it with a relatively short work, read and record it yourself using any microphone as long as the result is understandable, and then look at using that as the "guide track" for other voice actors. For actors who have small parts (in relation to the length, not in importance) that can be cut down into the relevant sections.

On a technical level, I suspect that any of the headset mics used for Skype etc. would be adequate for voice (and could also play back the rest of the recording through the headset). For software, Audacity is free and pretty easy to use (and also will play MP3s, which will cut down the size of guide tranks to be sent out).

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

I'd be *very* happy to collaborate on an adaptation of "The Sallow Man", if you think our respective creative inclinations wouldn't clash too much? Certainly my acting talent^* is at your disposal. =:o> It seems like the right sort of length for a starter project, would probably end up fitting nicely onto a single CD.

^*(I was going to say "talents", but then I remembered I never did save up enough box tops for a second one. =:o} )

Of course, I already have a one-and-half joint projects taking too long already, so it may be a while away yet... =:o\

"(Little Polish Productions, anyone?)"

*GROAN*...

Shouldn't that be "Tiny Flipperlike Productions", anyway? =:o>

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I'd love to have a go! (Though you probably want people who are actually in the same country as you, and whose voices you know. :-( )

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

As Keris says, different voices can be recorded at different times, the actors don't have to be together ... though it probably helps if you can record your voice in a room with no obvious echo or background noise so it does sound like everyone else is in Zander's wardrobe and you're in a cathedral during a thunderstorm :-)

And yes, I'd be interested as well, subject to spoons and free time.

[aunty_marion]

In order:
1) Me! Me! Me!
2) n/a
3) Quite possibly, yes!

[howeird]

ditto on all keristor said. I've done a fair amount of voice recording on my home PC, and it requires nowhere near the complexity or professional grade equipment of music recording. I did spend about $50 on a Tascam electret condensor analog mike after giving USB mikes a FAIL, and it helps to not have a fan going or an airplane or train passing by when you record. :-)

If you can use an American voice, let me know. Samples here:
http://www.howeird.com/sounds.html
And yes, I did steal your line for the Karloff impression.

[little-cinnamon.livejournal.com]

As long as

a) recording can be done from a distance
b) you don't mind people blinking at the recording and wondering "ok.... *where* is that accent from?"

I'd happily provide a voice! :)

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

Happy on all fronts, especially if it's an excuse to come visit :-)

[willibald.livejournal.com]

I would love to be considered but can't offer any help on the technical side